Writer’s Block - One Perspective
Often I’ve been heard to say that I don’t believe in so-called “writer’s block.” Mason Cooley once said that “Excuses change nothing, but make everyone feel better.” I believe it is also true of “writer’s block”.
I probably sound rather harsh and judgmental when I say I don’t believe in this malady. Maybe I am. I happen to believe we are responsible for our own actions and that if we are not writing, it is not because we are blocked, it is because of some other reason, or perhaps even a poor excuse.
For the writer, the story must get out. For the writer, writing is serious business. When we choose to weed the garden, wash the car, or call Dear Aunt Bertha rather than write, we are using excuses to keep us from our task.
Can there be a lack of words to put on paper? Perhaps.
Some things are easily remedied. Perhaps your creative well needs to be refilled. Perhaps you have been writing so long or with such intensity, you need to read for a while. Perhaps you are truly physically ill. If this is the case, you don’t have writer’s block, you have something else going on.
Be sure of one thing…there are a hundred excuses but not one good reason. If you are truly lacking the ability to put pen to paper, perhaps it is time to take a look at what is really holding you back and finding a way to deal with that hindrance.